| Hammerheart | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Bathory |
| Cover: | Hammerheart.jpg |
| Released: | 16 April 1990 |
| Recorded: | June – August 1989 |
| Studio: | Heavenshore Studio in Stockholm, Sweden |
| Genre: | Viking metal |
| Length: | 55:46 |
| Label: | Noise |
| Producer: | Boss Forsberg and Quorthon |
| Prev Title: | Blood Fire Death |
| Prev Year: | 1988 |
| Next Title: | Twilight of the Gods |
| Next Year: | 1991 |
Hammerheart is the fifth studio album by Swedish extreme metal band Bathory. It continued the previous album Blood Fire Death's transition away from black metal to what became recognized as Viking metal, and is considered a cornerstone work of the genre.[1] A music video was made for "One Rode to Asa Bay."
Quorthon dedicated the song "One Rode to Asa Bay", about the Christianization of Scandinavia, to C. Dean Andersson, who had earlier sent some of his books to Quorthon. The village's name in the song, Asa Bay, comes from the pseudonym Asa Drake which Andersson used in some of his books.[2]
The 2003 remastered edition combines tracks 5 and 6.
AllMusic called the album an "unqualified triumph for the pioneering Swedish act."[1]
Bathory
Production
HammerHeart Brewing Co. is a brewery located in Lino Lakes, Minnesota whose name and branding was influenced by the album. According to co-founder Nathaniel Chapman, “All of our beer names are inspired by Norwegian lore and we want to keep that attitude.”[3] The themes of the brewery and its beer are focused on Norse and Celtic mythology, and heavy metal music.[4]